Removable identifying characters for clothing



Dec. 23, 1969 L. w. CULMONE 3,484,974

REMOVABLE IDENTIFYING CHARACTERS FOR CLOTHING Filed April 10. 1967 F/GI/ //6 L 24 2 A & 1 I 4 26' IN VENTOI? LOUIS l4. CUL MONE A TTORNE VS.

United States Patent 3,484,974 REMOVABLE IDENTIFYING CHARACTERS FOR CLOTHING Louis W. Culmone, 19 King St., Morristown, NJ. 07960 Filed Apr. 10, 1967, Ser. No. 629,671 Int. Cl. G09f 7/00, 7/02 U.S. Cl. 40-129 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates generally to clothing and more particularly to athletic clothing having removable characters which are usable in various combinations to identify the wearer of the clothing.

A growing practice in the field of athletics today is the provision of the names of the participating athletes on their respective jerseys. This practice has evolved from professional teams, particularly football teams, which provide the names of players on their jerseys so that the individual players can easily be identified by the spectators without resorting to scorecards. While this practice is not relatively expensive to the professionals due to the stability of the players from year to year, the practice is prohibitively expensive to colleges and high schools in that the operating budgets are not on a professional level and the players are not usually on the varsity for more than one, two or at most three years. Thus, the jerseys provided for the player must be changed and replaced each year if the names of the players are permanently afiixed to the jersey.

However, the average life of athletic clothing including jerseys as well as other articles of clothing capable of personalization is often greater than three years. Since the athletes name has been placed on the clothing, the clothing is no longer Wearable by anyone else.

It is therefore an object of the invention to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages.

Another object of the invention is to provide removable identifying characters for clothing.

Another object of the invention is to provide new and improved removable identifying characters for use in combination with clothing which may be detachably fastened in various combinations to personalize the clothing to the individual using the same.

Another object of the invention is to provide clothing with an elongated strip having a plurality of loops incorporated therein and letters formed from a material having flexible resilient hooks incorporated therein so that said letters may be secured to said elongated strip to form an individuals name.

These and other objects of the invention are achieved by providing in combination, an elongated strip having a plurality of loop elements on the outer surface thereof. The strip is permanently secured to the clothing. A plurality of characters are provided and are each formed of material having a pluraity of resilient deformable hookshaped elements on the rear surface thereof. Each of the characters is adapted to be removably attached to the strip so that various combinations of characters may be used interchangeably with the clothing to personalize the same.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a rear elevational view of an athletic jersey embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 22 in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view which illustrates the fastening means for detachably securing the identifying characters to a fastening strip.

Referring now in greater detail to the various figures of the drawing wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts, a jersey embodying the invention is shown generally at 10 in FIG. 1.

Jersey 10 is preferably a conventional short sleeve blouse type shirt which may be used for such athletic activities as basketball, baseball, track, etc. Secured to the back of the jersey 10 is an elongated flexible strip 12 which is arcuately shaped and is preferably comprised of a wool or nylon fabric which is formed of fine loops on the outer surface thereof. The strip 12 :is preferably permanently affixed to the back panel 14 of jersey 10 by stitching 16.

As best seen in FIG. 1, a plurality of characters 18, 20 and 22 are detachably secured to the elongated strip 12. The characters 18, 20 and 22 are respectively cut out from a strip of a separable fastening element in the shape of the letters F, O, and X. Thus, where the surname of an individual is Fox, characters 18, 20 and 22 are secured to the strip 12. The characters are suitably spaced, as shown in FIG. 1, symmetrically about the center of the strip to enhance the jersey aesthetically. The characters 18 through 22 are preferably comprised of a separable fastening element having on its rear surface a plurality of closely associated rows of flexible resilient plastic hooking elements 24.

The hooking elements are comprised of upstanding plastic loops which are broken adjacent but: spaced from the endmost portion thereof to provide a hook portion. Therefore, as best seen in FIG. 3, the rear surface of character 20 includes a plurality of the hooking elements 24 which are adapted to be releasably engaged by the closely associated loop elements 26 which are provided on the outer surface of strip 12 when these surfaces are pressed against each other.

The material comprising the characters and the strip 12 is preferably separable fastening materialof the type shown in U.S. Patent Nos. 2,717,437, 3,009,235, and 2,154,807.

As best seen in FIG. 2, character 20', the letter O, is secured to the strip 12 by means of hooks 24 engaging the loops 26 of strip 12. That is, as the rear face of the characters is placed against the outer surface of strip 12, the hooking elements 24 become intertwined with the adjacent loops which are facing and aligned therewith.

As best seen in FIG. 2, strip 12 also preferably includes a backing of polyurethene foam 28 which is preferably secured to the rear surface thereof. The backing is optional. However, when the invention is used for football clothing or clothing for other contact sports, the foam enhances the securement between the separable fastening elements of the characters and the strip.

The characters 18 through 22 are removed from the strip 12 by pulling the characters away from the strip 12. Thus, as best seen in FIG. 3, if strip 12 is moved in the direction of arrow 30 relative to the character 20, it is separated therefrom. In order to separate the characters 3 from the strip 12, the hooks 24 must be deformed so that the loops 26 which are engaged thereby can be disengaged. To secure the characters on strip 12, however, requires little pressure relatively of the hook surface of the character against the loop pile of the strip 12.

It can therefore be seen that by provision of characters formed in each letter of the alphabet, each individual on a team can use a combination of characters to form his name and secure his name to his uniform. If the individual leaves the team, the characters may be removed from the strip 12 and the jersey is thus reusable by another individual. The invention is not limited to individual or team sports, but may also be used by individuals who desire a presonalized article of colthing but have not the facilities to permanently secure their name to the article.

The strip 12 is not limited to placement across the back panel of a jersey, nor is it required that the strip be somewhat horizontal. The strip may be placed horizontally, vertically or diagonally along either the back panel or the front panel of clothing. The strip not only may be arcuate, but may be straight. The strip may be narrow or Wide.

Similarly, the invention is not limited for use in conjunction with short sleeve jerseys but may also be used with other articles of clothing including but not limited to long sleeve jerseys, warm-up jackets, over jackets, slacks, etc.

The invention enables high schools and colleges to provide individualized jerseys for each player on the squad without materially increasing the cost to the school for the use of the same. The cost of additional characters is inexpensive and the use of individual characters to form names, for example, enables the characters to be utilized not only in one name, but in other names in succeeding years. Thus, each character may also be utilized many times.

It should also be noted that while the strip 12 has been secured by stitching 16 to the back panel of jersey 10, the strip 12 may also be made integral with the back panel 14 of the jersey. Further, the strips are preferably color coordinated to please the eye aesthetically. The characters are easily placed on the strip, but require a substantial ripping to remove them from the jersey so that loss of characters during an athletic event is minimized.

Without further elaboration, the foregoing will so fully illustrate my invention, that others may, be app ying current or future knowledge, readily adapt the same for use under various conditions of service.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. In combination with a jersey, an elongated strip having an outer surface formed of a first separable fastening member, said strip being permanently secured to said clothing, a plurality of letters forming an individuals name being separably secured to said strip, said letters each having a rear surface formed of a second separable fastening member, one of said separable fastening members comprising a plurality of loop elements and the other of said separable fastening members comprising a plurality of resiliently deformable h ok-shaped members adapted to engage said loop elements, whereby said letters forming said name are secured to said strip by the separable engament of said hooks with said loop elements.

2. An article of clothing adapted for use in combination with removable identifying characters, each of which character is formed of material having a plurality of resiliently deformable hook-shaped elements on the rear surface thereof, said article of clothing including on the outer surface thereof a strip having a plurality of lo p elements for receiving and remova'bly securing said hookshaped elements of at least one of said identifying characters so that the wearer of said article of clothing may be identified by said characters.

3. The invention of claim 1 wherein said article f clothing comprises an athletic shirt and said strip is disposed on the rear of said shirt.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,854,821 4/1932 Barker. 2,748,517 6/1956 Berkis. 2,775,048 12/1956 Berman 40-140 X 3,167,782 2/1965 Wilson. 3,316,669 5/1967 Nachbar 40142 3,327,419 6/1967 Stanos 40140 X EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner WENCESLAO I. CONTRERAS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 40140 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,484,974 December 23 1969 Louis W. Culmone It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 69, "pluraity" should read plurality Column 2, line 53, "2,154,807" should read 3,154,807 Column 3, line 14, "colthing" should read clothing Column 4, line 28, claim reference numeral "1" should read Signed and sealed his 21st day of April 1970.

(SEAL) Attest:

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr. WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR.

Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

